It's not just the big guys aiming for space any more. Small businesses are increasingly getting a chance at becoming a part of the exclusive community of NASA contractors. Several small businesses were involved in developing NASA's Curiosity Rover which landed on Mars this summer in early August. Honeybee Robotics via AP

Honeybee Robotics co-founder Steve Gorevan poses in front of a duplicate of the Mars Curiosity Rover. His small space tech company, with about 40 employees, made a robotic dust removal tool to brush off Martian rock samples. Honeybee Robotics

The dust removal tool can be seen on Mars at the end of the Curiosity Rover's arm. NASA

Malin Space Science Systems, with about 30 employees, built four of the cameras on the Curiosity Rover that is taking photographs of Mars. This photo, taken by Malin's 100-millimeter Mast camera on August 23, 2012, shows the base of Mount Sharp on Mars. NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS via AP

The Mastcam, along with the ChemCam, can be seen on the top of Curiosity Rover's remote sensing mast. The photo was taken by another Malin camera, the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI), which reflects the angled position of the MAHLI camera. NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS via AFP/Getty Images